JUL 13, 14 .. TIME FOR A SHORT ' ROAD TRIP ' ..

I WILL BE TOTALLY 'OFF-LINE' FOR THE NEXT WEEK .. because ..

 

Later today .. Sunday the 13th of July 2014 .. Patti and I are going to drive North from Anchorage Alaska to Manley Hot Springs Alaska.  We will stay at our cabin (front, side and rear views below) until Saturday the 19th. Our 'plan' is to then drive back South through Fairbanks to Anchorage Alaska arriving on Sunday the 20th.

 

And ?? We will be 'off-line' because we do NOT have internet-access up in the rural interior of Alaska. 

 

 

 

The trip-North consists of two individual 'legs'.

First the two-of-us will drive North from Anchorage Alaska to Fairbanks Alaska .. about 375 miles (625 Km).  We will stay-the-night in Fairbanks to rest and visit friends.

Then we will drive from Fairbanks Alaska to Manley Hot Springs Alaska .. about 160 miles (270 Km).

Below are a few photos of Manley Hot Springs. 

The small village of approximately 100 people is divided by a small river (we call it a slough).  Below is the bridge across the slough.



OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN ! ..

You have GOT-TO snap some summer photographs this trip! Your wonderful friends over in India (Hi Jeevan, Raj, Shivam, Johnson and the rest-of-you!) will actually think that we have SNOW in the month of July!

We have a wonderful Road House where guests can stay and enjoy a nice meal.

A close-up photo of the mural on the side of the Road House.

 

We have a wonderful church to Worship The Lord ..



 Can you all see our Church-Bell up in the Bell-Tower?

 

We have 'running-water' here in our village.  We 'run-up-to-the-well-house' where water is pumped-up from underground.

 

Straight ahead in the below photo ..  behind our Chevrolet Suburban truck .. you can see the blue-water-hose that delivers water to our 'water-jugs'. 

 

Below is a closer view of the blue-water-hose affixed to a blue water-jug.  You can see the electrical switch that activates the flow of water from the well-house.

 

 

After we fill our 'water-jugs' with water from the well-house .. we then fill-our-vehicles with the full 'water-jugs'. 

 

We 'stash' our full water-jugs inside of .. and outside of .. our vehicles and then haul them back to our cabins.

 

"Thank You for asking 'Zilla!"  I have ten (10) .. five gallon capacity .. water-jugs and four (4) five gallon capacity white water buckets.  You can see one of the white buckets between the blue water-jugs below as they rest on the rear of my truck.

 

When we get the water-jugs back to our cabins .. the process of storing the water in our cabins begins!  Do you all see the blue water-jugs on the porch of our cabin?  One of the white water buckets is to the left beside the porch at ground level.

Dispensing the water is quite a project!  I empty the water from the five gallon water-jugs into one-gallon and 3/4-gallon jugs.  The small jugs are much easier to handle inside the cabin.

"Yes 'Zilla?" .. "Some of the one-gallon jugs are numbered (1-32 actually) because I will methodically rotate their use through a complete cycle allowing the water to thoroughly settle.  There will be some sediment (minerals) in the water from the well-house that I avoid drinking."

I filter all of my drinking water through Brita brand water filters. 

First I pour the water into one-gallon plastic pitchers.

OH YES !  THIS IS A PROJECT !

 

I fill several of the plastic pitchers at a time .. then I empty them into the white one-gallon and 3/4-gallon jugs.



Each five-gallon water-jug weighs about 41-pounds.  Each one-gallon pitcher weighs about 8.33-pounds.  You lift the five-gallon jugs up-into the truck and position them.  You then take them out out of the truck and position them on the porch.  You hold them up while emptying them into the one-gallon pitchers.  Then you pour the pitchers into the one-gallon jugs.  You lift them up and carry them into the cabin.  Then you position them in the cabin.
 

WHEW .. a lot of WORK ! I need a nap !

By-The-Way .. I also have a second system for storing water in the cabin.

I have two (2) .. 32-gallon .. plastic Rubbermaid trash containers.  I will fill each of them to capacity thus adding an additional 64-gallons of water storage capacity for the cabin.  During the heart-of-winter I can store 140-gallons of water inside the cabin.  I will use from two to three gallons of water per day.  This means I do not have to start my truck and make a 'water-run' very often during the winter.

I also generate snow-melt-water during the winter.  So basically once I 'water-up' in the late autumn I NEVER have to make a water-run until spring!  I can easily generate 5 to 10 gallons of snow-melt water a day in the winter.

WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS A REAL LIFE-STYLE.  It is not for everyone.  Try losing-your-heat for a month when it is fifty degrees below zero.    

As I work away at my water project on the front porch of the cabin .. I have some 'local friends' who keep-me-company!

I know them as 'spruce geese' and let-me-tell-you ..

They are SASSY! 

They come-right-up-to-me .. they look up and they 'eye-me' .. and think to themselves .. "Dad! What  are YOU doing here on OUR land!?" ..

"OK Dad .. I have got to get back to my dinner .. have fun with your water project Dad!"

OH YES there is more .. much much more .. but I have got to get packing and I will have to save some photos for later.

We will see you in a week-or-so.  For our travel schedule go over to .. babakaps.net .. and click onto the TRAVEL PLANS button at the top of .. Baba Kaps Doxology ..

Over and out for now .. Cap and Patti ..